Afl X WAS AWESOME

[StevenFutureAFL]

I thought it was okay, will be interesting to watch it live tonight, although would have been awesome at AAMI Park

My thoughts on how to improve it:
Remove the zoopa goals
Remove the 40m line altogether.
Make the goals and points 20% tighter to make scoring harder.
Use yellow or red normal size footies
Incorporate some state league or local teams in a pre AFLX tournament, allow the top 6 to play in the AFLX so 24 teams play
Should be 10 players a side, which would make it more contested
Kick a goal it should go back to the center for a ruck contest

 

[falcons2]

Interested only to see the concept and who was playing. Watched for about an hour.
It was Ok. But really just a glorified training drill.
I'll watch the Hawks tonight to see what potential will be coming through.

Sorry for sounding like an AFL lacky but I understand AFLX is a hybrid designed for expansion markets up North and in China and India where soccer sized grounds are more prevalent.

 

[Cripps 'n' Blue Bloods]

i think it could be alright if it was a genuine competition

Is too uncontested for me. Simply a novelty that begins pre season a week early

These two things are not unrelated.
Make a proper comp out of it, with some incentive to win and it will become more contested. But then you move into the territory of clubs fielding stronger sides and the potential injury concerns for higher rated players.
If it was made fair dinkum, I think it would have to move to recently retired/delisted players from comps other than the main game. Maybe some rookies could be included too.

 

[Bostonian]

Yeh I didn’t mind it either, BigFooty taking it WAY too seriously.

So if it's not to be taken seriously why risk players getting injured?

 

[karen50]

i watched it an thought it was CRAP. you basically only saw 2 things
1) Kicking
2) Handballing
you could see more during a intraclub match or a Training Drill. whats the point of AFLX ?
i enjoyed my Glass of Wine more than i did AFLX

 

[gavaniacono]

Millennial parents in fear of life and each of its risky moments will adore this sterile safe bland concoction.
And I, I will be reading a book this and tomorrow evening.

 

[10571z]

Sorry but how the hell could anyone say it was awesome.

 

[Big_Birdy]

Why are all the AFL plants on this forum down as Eagles supporters?

 

[markm106]

AFL X seems ok as a novelty. I watched a few of the games but not all. I will watch at least the Melbourne games tonight.
A bit too uncontested for me and makes me want to watch round one even more. Hopefully this doesn’t get extended in any real way in future. If it is left as a one weekend thing I can live with that. Perhaps just make it u23 to.

 

[SilentHunter_]

Obviously, the comparison with T20 is the one that was brought up most often in the build up to tonight. However, they seem to have missed a lot of the point about what makes T20 work as a spectacle. In T20 cricket, they haven't changed the dimensions of the ground, the wickets or the stumps. The scoring is still the same as in the other forms of cricket. The size of the ball is the same. However, T20, through its truncated nature, encourages the most exciting and entertaining parts of the sport to occur more regularly (in the eyes of most people - Test fans can appreciate attritional cricket and the contest between batsman and bowler). Big hits, crazy shots (the ramp/reverse sweep), searing yorkers, booming bouncers and bamboozling leg spinners. These are the moments that stick in the mind, turn up on highlight reels around the world and are what people remember.

Think about the moments in a game of Australian Rules that really stick in the mind - it's the pack mark or the speccy, the big run down the wing, the miracle goal from the pocket, a player like a Martin or Dangerfield bursting forth from a pack and kicking a long range goal. Because of the nature of the way AFL X is set up, you really can't have those moments like you do in a proper game of Australian Rules. It takes away a lot of what makes Australian Rules great and you're left with a hollow shell. One of the games I watched had three 10 pointers kicked in a minute, going back and forth like a tennis ball over the net. If you'd seen three 6s in a row in a game of cricket, you'd be going nuts. Here, it felt like nothing, because the skill level required in this game in order to be able to do that seemed trivial in comparison - this is the pinnacle of the skill within the game and it felt so hollow.

That said, it does look like it'd be a fun game to play. Ironically, a lower skill level may have provided a better spectacle, but AFL players are too good with their skills for the most part that they made a mockery of the dimensions of the ground.

Great summary and comparison. POTW.

 

[Coaster2012]

Pros: Rioli will be a star

Cons: Everything else.

I really wanted to enjoy this. I have been telling people to shut the * up and hold judgement on this board. But yeah, was disappointing in every facet. It literally felt like I was watching a training session. I believe in what Simmo said, make it 1st and 2nd years only next time.

 

[liz]

I watched about 15 mins last night, split across 4 or 5 games. I'm now seriously reconsidering whether I bother to travel the 5km or so to Moore Park on Saturday afternoon.

I probably will because the walk will do me good but I now expect the "football" to be boring as bat s**t.

 

[Richard Pryor]

They tried to make it a serious thing too early. The first international T20 game had 80's fancy dress and Billy Bowden taking the piss, they didn't get everyone to talk about how amazing it was and seriously analyze it until after people started following it.

When you've got Zooper goals and BT and Brayshaw in the comm box you have to go full ridiculous, not the weird quasi-legitimate coverage they went with.

 

[roojor]

The point is it is not going to be a regular fixture ongoing for the players

But to be used as a hope those not too serious in afl will play. And enjoy it may not even be in Australia

Then will come and watch the real afl

 

[Glenhope]

"Afl X WAS AWESOME"

Yeah, nah.

 

[Fyfster]

Pros: Rioli will be a star

Cons: Everything else.

I really wanted to enjoy this. I have been telling people to shut the **** up and hold judgement on this board. But yeah, was disappointing in every facet. It literally felt like I was watching a training session. I believe in what Simmo said, make it 1st and 2nd years only next time.

Rioli looks promising yes. But i would not declare him based on that very uncontested game , lets see how he goes when he has a guy playing him tight and there is a lot more pressure on up the ground.

 

[Linda_Lovelace]

It was circle work with goal posts at either end and about as exciting.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Some great posts about it lacking the fundamentals of what makes AFL good. No great tackles, no pack marks, desperate smothers, explosive clearance, ruck tap to a rover, goal from the boundary etc.

.

Sounds like the Crows last September.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

It was great. Geelong lost another grand final and proved once again that they are not the greatest team of all

But But they qualified 1st for the GF.Should have been played in Geelong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Rioli looks promising yes. But i would not declare him based on that very uncontested game , lets see how he goes when he has a guy playing him tight and there is a lot more pressure on up the ground.

He reminds me of a slightly thinner Relton Roberts.

 

[Richo83]

There's a few things which a sport needs to be enjoyable:

1. A balance between defence and offence, which ensures players need to skills to be able to score and allows the sport to showcase defensive skills like tackling which fans enjoy

2. Different scoring methods, so the game doesn't become monotonous

3. Different aspects of play, so some moments involve stoppages, some are pack marks, some are open play, which again avoids monotony

AFLX doesn't really do any of these. It's almost completely offence dominated, most teams try and score long goals, and most of it is just kicks to free players as there's not enough players to cover everyone. It's very repetitive. There's a reason why aussie rules has such a large ground, because a football ground is too short, meaning the game becomes like ping-pong. It also needs more players, otherwise it becomes circle work.

I don't mind tinkering, but I don't like this.

 

[Richo83]

The people who didn't get at least some enjoyment out of it are probably those types who like footy but no other sports.

I love football, American football, test cricket and other sports. All those sports have a balance between offence and defence which mean scoring is actually an impressive feat. This felt too easy, as if they lowered the basketball net by two feet.

 

[Dez!]

The people who didn't get at least some enjoyment out of it are probably those types who like footy but no other sports.

False.

I enjoy other sports but you're kidding yourself if you found AFLX enjoyable.

 

[legend166]

It genuinely insulted my intelligence.

Look how stupid the AFL think people are with this rubbish.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

The highlight for me was the commentators having to try and act like Lehmo isn't a dickhead